The majority of calls to the City's 107 emergency number are nuisancecalls. Some 80 % of calls are made by pranksters.

The highest call volumes were registered in December 2004 and Januarythis year, the City's Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security heardat a briefing this week. Between January last year and April 2005 thefive months between September and January proved to be the busiest incall volumes.

Cllr David Erleigh, Mayoral Committee Member and Chairperson of theCommittee on Safety and Security, said the service levels of theEmergency Call Centre are of international standard.

"The three digit number (107) provides easy and fast access to theCity's emergency network. Calls are answered within ten seconds, 24hours per day, seven days a week. We can help people in any of the threeofficial languages in the Western Cape, namely Afrikaans, isiXhosa andEnglish.

"Emergency calls cover a wide number of incidents, ranging from fires atproperties, vehicles, bush and grass to medical and crime emergencies.Non-emergency calls include pleas for help regarding utility servicessuch as water, electricity and sewerage as well as road side assistanceand illegal land invasions.

"Most of the calls come in between 11:00 (11am) and 21:00 (9pm), peaking between 13:00 (1pm) and 15:00 (3pm)," says Cllr Erleigh.

The City has budgeted over R9 million in the current financial year tooperate the 107 Emergency Call Centre.

"In our quest for better service delivery we have embarked on severalpublic education and awareness projects. These are aimed at making thepublic aware of which number to call in an emergency, as well as toreduce prank calls.

"The projects are designed to reach people through community events, libraries, shopping malls and direct mail," says Cllr Erleigh.

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